Friday, 8 April 2016

He listens to the stirring of the earth with bated breath and he gasps,

He dips nose into the dusk of the setting suns rays,

With a heart full of mirth in the twilight he plays..

Nightime is coming, hedgehog stretches and yawns,

A soul full of gladness as he scurries and scrawns -

He opens his throat to sing a happy hedgehog song,

Full of mystery and moonlight - here is where he belongs.

The hedgehog is free as he ever should be,

About his business unknown to most folk - you and me.

Betwixt hither and thither he may yet be found,

If you are careful and cautious and you do not make a sound.

Hedgehog is a friend that you mayhap will meet,

If ever you do so, please be kind and be sweet,

For his temper is gentle as at wonders he's guessing,

From old England he comes with many a blessing.

c.Titus.L 2016

Having
been found near Lake Windemere in the Lake District and too small to
survive the winter outside, Hedgehog Bramble was taken to the Animal
Rescue Center in Kendal where he has overwintered and put on necessary
weight.

Now that spring has come and he has grown, Bramble came into our care for 'soft - release' back into the wilds. This
entails having him in an outside pen which also has a small run to
allow him to reacclimatise to the night air, smells and sounds - to be
released as weather allows.

Having seen night cam footage of how
eager Bramble was to be free, he spent many hours Sunday night clinging
to his enclosure and peering hopefully beyond, we decided to release him
a soon as possible. We recently had a long rainy spell and as a few
days of lighter weather were forecast, we removed the pen gateway and
Bramble was released on the evening of Monday 4th of April.
We didnt get to see the night cam footage till next day and as you can see he was delighted to be free.
We
were very anxious that he did not appear the next night on camera, nor
was any food eaten - but to our delight last night not only did he find
his way back to his soft release home and gobble a hearty dinner, but he
also seems to have relocated his daylight sleeping quarters to occupy
one of Hedgehog Noah's ocassionally used houses that we built.

If you find a hedgehog in need or other animal in distress please contact the RSPCA
tel 0300 123 4999
You
can find information on domestic and wild animals as well as advice
about general pet care, animal welfare law, animal rehoming and vet
care. You can also find details of local vets, council and police for
non-emergency situations.

Hedgehogs are a protected species in the Uk but we've lost a third of
all our hedgehogs in the last ten years. There is a Petition to give the
hedgehog better legal protection to reverse its decline. Please sign
the petition ( sign the petition here )